Category: Daily Reflection

“There once was a little plant that was small and whose growth was stunted, for it lived under the shade of a giant oak tree. The little plant valued the shade that covered it and highly regarded the quiet rest that its noble friend provided. Yet there was a greater blessing prepared for this little plant. One day a woodsman entered the forest with a sharp ax and felled the giant oak. The little plant began to weep, crying out, “My shelter has been taken away. Now every fierce wind will blow on me, and every storm will seek to uproot me!” The guardian angel of the little plant responded, “No! Now the sun will shine and showers will fall on you more abundantly than ever before. Now your stunted form will spring up into loveliness, and your flowers, which could never have grown to full perfection in the shade, will laugh in the sunshine. And people in amazement will say, “Look how that plant has grown! How gloriously beautifully it has become by removing that which was its shade and its delight!”

Today’s short parable was taken from a page in the “Streams In The Desert” devotional and is one that I can definitely relate to. For most of my life, I had plenty of things shading me from the harsh realities of this world. From once having an abundance of money, great health, close friends, Higher Power guidance, and deep support from spiritual teachers, my life has been entirely stripped of most of them now and become devoid of all that I once thought was needed to keep protecting me in my own shade of life.

Yet, somewhere in my depths is a similar belief like this parable, in that maybe each of those things were stripped from my life to help me grow stronger, to blossom more in the long run, and to become all that which God always intended me to become. It’s a hard thought I know, and one that I must step out in faith every day, as of late, to keep believing in, given how much I feel the world seems to be scorching me these days. But, in the end, I believe that my faith and belief in the meaning of this parable will deepen my spiritual roots and brighten my spiritual blooms to a level I’ve never known and that alone helps to keep me going, one day at a time.

Dear Lord, I may not understand why all the things I once thought protected me have been stripped away from my life. Yet, who am I to question Your actions? Because in the end, I have faith that maybe it is in all those things you have been stripping away, that were necessary to remove to help me become a beacon of Light for You. May I continue to trust in You God, no matter how much I may be feeling exposed to the harsh realities of this world.

Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson

“Man says, ‘Show me, and I’ll trust you.’ God says, ‘Trust me and I’ll show you.’” (Jeanette Zahler)

Haven’t we all at some point wanted that burning bush type of experience to prove that God exists? Well I sure have, especially as of late, given how great my pain and suffering has become. I mean, who wouldn’t want to walk by a bush suddenly and see it burst into flames, and then abruptly hear a calming voice that brings a level of peace and knowingness within them that has probably never been felt whatsoever in their waking life?

While I’ve never heard of anyone having this type of experience as of yet, I can say I’ve felt the presence of God in other ways in my past and when it’s happened, I really have felt a level of peace that’s hard to describe. And man, would I love to feel something like that these days. It’s been more than a year now without any real sense of connection to God, which has left me feeling a vast emptiness deep within and an ache I wish I could make go away.

I continue to want God to show up in some way, shape, or form in my life, just to reassure me that He’s still there and that everything is going to be ok, because I feel so afraid of what’s going on within me now. But is that true faith? As I’ve read that having true faith is trusting in God, even in the absence of all signs of His presence. The reality is that what I used to call faith was relatively conditional. You see, I used to have what I thought was faith when signs kept coming my way, when life felt grand, when my health didn’t feel upside down, when money was coming in, and when my biggest worries were pretty trivial in nature.

But, ever since my suffering has become as intense as it has, when it went from days, to weeks, to months, and then to years, when communication from God fell silent and all attempts to reach Him have gone unanswered, that great faith I thought I had was nowhere to be found. Believe me, I’d love to have some miraculous sign occur in my life right now to prove that God is still with me, but I know to have a deeper faith, one that is unshakeable, no matter what my circumstances, I must keep on believing, even when everything points to believing otherwise.

Ultimately, I think it comes down to fully trusting God, EVEN when life feels like it’s at its darkest, EVEN when all signs of God’s presence have seemingly disappeared, and EVEN when suffering feels like it’s at its greatest, because maybe it’s in those moments where true faith blossoms and when the true face of God can appear and be appreciated at one’s very core.

Dear God, my faith has wavered quite a bit as of late. With life often feeling so very dark for me, I’ve questioned Your very existence. I pray that You may help me keep the faith in You, even in these darkest of moments, so that when You bring me out of it once and for all and back into the Light, I may never question Your presence again.

Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson

“Patience is not simply the ability to wait, but the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting.” (Joyce Meyer)

When my partner Chris and I visited downtown Cleveland, Ohio for the first time together to attend a pro-baseball game between the Indians and the Red Sox, I was rather excited. As we began to look for a parking space, a car suddenly pulled out in front of us from the side of a road, a mere block from the stadium. I abruptly shouted, “PARK THERE, PARK THERE!!!” Having seen a sign that said it was safe to park on that road for 2 hours, up until 4pm, and given it was well past 2pm, I couldn’t believe our luck, especially since each of those garages we had passed had $25 to $50 price tags to park there for the sporting event. A few dollars to park and then free parking after 4pm, how sweet a deal was that I thought! Unfortunately, a car was directly behind us now and preventing us from backing into the space, so Chris proceeded to drive away.

While I normally have been more patient than not in situations like this in recent years, I wasn’t in this case. Instead, I became irate and started shouting at Chris, losing any bit of serenity, as well as any joy I had for the baseball game that evening. I proceeded to berate my partner in a slew of negative comments and said I should have been the one to drive. I also told him that if he had just been a little more patient, we would have been in that prime and extremely affordable downtown parking spot, rather than having to now park in one of those expensive garages.

Ironically, I was the one who needed to learn another lesson in patience and had to eat every one of my words though, as when we finally made our way back around the block to where that amazing parking spot had been, I noticed a second sign above the one I already read that said, “NO PARKING BETWEEN 4PM AND 6PM.”

All that shouting, all that negativity, all that impatience on my part, all for what? Clearly, I still have some work to do when it comes to cultivating more patience in life. And just so know, Chris eventually found a garage for us to park our car in, a mere block further away from there, all for the low cost of $10, something that a little more patience would have found with ease.

Dear Lord, please help me hold my tongue and practice better patience the next time I find myself in a situation that challenges my ego in thinking it can do a better job than someone or something else.

Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson